A gravo-aeroelastically scaled wind turbine rotor at field-prototype scale with strict structural requirements

Shulong Yao, D. Todd Griffith, Mayank Chetan, Christopher J. Bay, Rick Damiani, Meghan Kaminski and Eric Loth

Renewable Energy, 2020, vol. 156, issue C, 535-547

Abstract: A new sub-scale field-prototype design solution is developed to realize the dynamics, structural response, and distributed loads (gravitational, aerodynamic, centrifugal) that are characteristic of a full-scale large, modern wind turbine rotor. Prior work in sub-scale wind turbine testing has focused on matching aerodynamic/aero-elastic characteristics of full-scale rotors at wind tunnel scale. However, large-scale rotor designs must expand beyond this limited set of scaling parameters for cost-effective prototyping and meet strict requirements for structural safety for field testing. The challenge lies in producing a structural design meeting two competing objectives: novel scaling objectives that prescribe the sub-scale blade to have low mass and stiffness; and traditional structural safety objectives that drive the design to have higher stiffness and mass. A 20% gravo-aeroelastically scaled wind turbine blade is developed successfully that satisfies these competing objectives. First, it achieved close agreement for non-dimensional tip deflection and flap-wise blade frequency (both within 2.1%) with a blade mass distribution constrained to produce target gravitational and centrifugal loads. Second, the entire blade structure was optimized to ensure a safe, manufacturable solution meeting strict strength requirements for a testing site that can experience up to 45 m/s wind gusts. The prototype-scale blade was fabricated and successfully proof-load tested.

Keywords: Sub-scale testing; Field testing; Wind turbine rotor design; Structural safety requirements (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:renene:v:156:y:2020:i:c:p:535-547

DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2020.03.157

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